Kashmir's longest surviving militant commander killed

Police on Tuesday claimed to have killed one of the oldest surving militant commanders in North Kashmir's Uri near the Line of Control (LoC) while he was trying to sneak into the Valley.

Security officials said Qayoom was killed in a gunfight near Zorawar post of Lachipora Uri in the district.

Najar, also known as Jan Sahib and Ishfaq, was a resident of Mumkak in Sopore, and had joined the militancy in 1999.

"The slain terrorist was responsible for several innocent killings and was also involved in dozens of terror activities, like attacking mobile dealers in Srinagar city", IG police (Kashmir range) Munir Khan said. The terrorist's family confirmed that he had been killed in the encounter.

The Police spokesman described his killing a very significant development. He was arrested in 1992 and later released. Security agencies were convinced that these killings and attacks are the handiwork of Qayoom and his associate Imtiyaz Kundoo. After his release, Qayoom allegedly reentered militancy and was an active terrorist.

Najar, according to police sources, is believed to have executed Abdul Majid Dar, ex-chief commander of HM after the later entered into peace talks with the govt of India. Officials say that Najar was also unhappy as the Hizbul high command had shifted their focus to the boys operating in Tral instead of his cadres.

Najar was the key person behind Lashkar-e-Islam. Najar recently broke away from Hizbul Mujahideen and had formed his own outfit Lashkar-e-Islam which has carried out a series of attacks on cellphone towers.